Heading out for work, or making the block--it all depends on the direction of the turns.

To orient you, I took these photos after work on Thursday, but I'm writing about week-day mornings.

Out the front door and turn right, looking east on NW Everett. That's the Rose Plaza on the left and the Elizabeth on the right. I cross NW 22nd Avenue here 95 percent of the time each weekday morning and continue down Everett. A week ago I decided to no longer catch the 17 down at NW 21st and Everett--the woman driver is, well, a woman driver! She's got the bus bobbin' and weavin', swayin' and swervin'--if the bus were capable of making the right turn off Everett onto 3rd with only the wheels on one side touching the pavement, she'd have it doin' that! She's a nice woman but not the driver for me. So, I either turn right onto NW 21st and head over to Burnside to catch a 15 or a 20, or I walk one of several routes--all with the potential to catch a bus should I up and give out. That doesn't happen often lately because walking has upped my endurance.



The other 5% of the time, I turn right at the corner and walk up to Burnside where I turn left and ... you know, it's in the first paragraph. On the way I pass NW Davis which dead ends into NW 22nd, right at the Elephant Deli's parking lot.



Here's a huge old chestnut tree, on the corner of Davis and 22nd. I had no idea how much stuff falls out of chestnut trees. I now see "Under a spreading chestnut-tree, The village smithy stands" in an entirely different light--the guy's covered with spiky green balls and/or huge leaves and/or chestnuts still encased in the balls and/or revealed in their smooth, shiny brown skins.



About half way between Davis and Burnside, there's the Ringside Steakhouse parking lot and this stunning line up of trees. Please note the color-coordinated reddish/maroon truck. Serendipity, street-level accessory style.



Now you can see the corner where I turn left onto Burnside. Note the apartment building across the street. It's a pale olive green and orange along with the brick--our old management company manages it and used the same awful-colored paint on our old building. The cars on the right are parked beside the Goodwill Store's parking lot. How about those balconies on that sliver of a building--the gray strips? They look like fun, but I image it gets pretty noisy in those apartments--Burnside is a really, really busy street.

Let's pretend I didn't turn left and go to work, that I turned back around and walked back towards the apartment. I crossed over to NW 22nd Place, walking through the Elephant's parking lot.



The golden tree and the tablet are part of the Hazel Hall poetry garden, beside her family home which is on the National Register of Historic Places. In the background you can see another unique Northwest Hill apartment building--Casey's friend Isolde lives here. Next, I turned right and headed north onto NW 22nd Place, stopped in my tracks by the old blue VW and the red trees. Just look at the amount of leaves on the ground--that must have been some sight before the wind and the rain!





Now I've turned right one last time, back onto Everett. Hey, I just had a thought. I could do this in the mornings if I start out early enough and get a bit more exercise that way. Well, I'd have to make sure the Elephant parking lot lights shine into the poetry garden or else I might hit my shin on a tablet.

If you'd like to see one more photo of glorious fall foliage and matching street-level accessories, please go to my other blog, Portland (OR) Daily Photo.